Anneke van Giersbergen

Dutch vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen is easily one of the hardest working people in music, and an artist that defies being pigeonholed by genre. She will forever be known as the vocalist for melancholic metallers The Gathering, but since striking out on her own in 2007, she has solidified a solo career, recorded and performed multiple times with Canadian metal genius Devin Townsend, and lending her honey-sweet, yet powerful voice to the likes of Anathema, Icelandic folk group Árstídir, Within Temptation, Ayreon mastermind Arjen Lucassen, Moonspell, John Wetton and Napalm Death. This has provided Anneke with a huge catalogue to choose from as a live performer, but it has also created a certain amount of confusion amongst her fans which has led to the creation of a new group, VUUR, a band that features some of the best heavy metal players in the Netherlands.

In 2016, Anneke decided for the sake of clarity to narrow her musical focus, choosing to go in a folk acoustic direction as a solo artist and in a heavy progressive metal direction as a band vocalist. The name VUUR – translated from Dutch as “fire”, which can also be interpreted to mean “passion” or “drive” – was chosen as a moniker to represent Anneke’s metal side, with the idea that when fans buy a ticket with the VUUR name on it they will be getting her heavy progressive music, while an Anneke van Giersbergen show will be entirely different.

Having proven her credentials and immense vocal talent for 13 years as front woman of The Gathering, in 2007 Anneke felt it was time to begin her own solo career. Along with her new band Agua de Annique the charismatic singer quickly established herself as a solo artist, releasing several albums to critical and popular acclaim.

2012’s Everything is Changing was something of a milestone in Anneke’s solo career. The album, which was the first to be released under her own name got her nominated for two Edison awards – Holland’s most prestigious music prize – in the categories ‘Best Female Artist’ and ‘Best Album’.

Anneke’s latest solo album Drive (2013) was her first release for German label InsideOut Music. Its accompanying tour took Anneke and her band all over the world as she toured over 25 different countries in Europe and the Americas.

On March 20 2015, Anneke van Giersbergen and Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon) released their collaborative album The Diary under the name The Gentle Storm.

VUUR released their full-length debut in October 2017 on InsideOut Music. From there the band will hit stages across Europe and beyond. Make no mistake: VUUR is a band and not a project, meaning that Anneke will focus on new material as well as the heavier side of her previous outings.